


When Dark Minds Forget

by muzicwolf



Category: The Darkest Minds, The Darkest Minds Series - Alexandra Bracken
Genre: Actually everything is a bit OOC, Angst, Basically just so many spoilers, Ever - Freeform, First work - Freeform, ITA Spoilers!!!, In my head Clancy would have changed after losing his memory, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Never Fade Spoilers, OOC!Clancy, POV Third Person, Post-ITA, Spoilers, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 03:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7602433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muzicwolf/pseuds/muzicwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Only in a world where the tragedy of IAAN had never occurred could the characters of TDM truly discover who they were.</p><p>So what happens when a certain boy loses his power and his memory. And what of the best friend that he betrayed in his mad scramble for power.</p><p>Otherwise known as that Post-ITA headcannon where Clancy and Nico have some issues to resolve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Dark Minds Forget

**Author's Note:**

> I ship Clancy and Nico. I have since I read the series. And this is what happened when me and my friend were having a back and forth over what would happen between Nico and the new Clancy Post-ITA. 
> 
> I hope you have as much fun reading as I did torturing myself.

“If I had powers like you I’d probably try to take over the world.”

Joke. It was a joke. Just a dumb joke. Even so, it made Nico’s fingers still over the keyboard of the computer. And after a moment his hands were shaking so bad that he had to clench them in his lap. Nico wished he could forget what Clancy had just said. He realized that he wished for a lot of things now that he was likely never to get.

All it took was one final, “Nico, are you okay?”, and he snapped, before Clancy even had a chance to finish the statement.

“No, I’m not  _ okay _ . You keep asking me that stupid question and every time the words come out of your mouth I realize how  _ not okay  _ it is.” 

There was still some small part of him that was telling him to backtrack. Brush it off as a bad day or waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Anything to avoid the storm that was coming. Anything to avoid dragging Clancy back into the nightmare that he’d created. A nightmare he couldn’t remember. 

But it was too late. Too late to stop the feelings of rage. Of depression. Of loneliness. Of sadness. Of complete  _ betrayal _ . 

“What do you mean? Did I do something wrong?” His voice sounded so genuinely confused that it shocked Nico into silence. Not once had he ever heard his friend utter words so sincere. And it left him to wonder if Ruby had erased his memory or simply created a new person. Probably more of the latter.

“Yes. Yes, you did something wrong. But I don’t even know if I can be mad at you for something that you don’t remember. You’re a completely different person and I have no idea how to act.” 

The words were flooding out of Nico. He couldn’t stop the train wreck that was coming. He could see the tracks ending in the distance but the engine couldn’t be stopped.

“The Clancy that I knew used people. Manipulated them. He destroyed them from the inside and built them up again in his image, just because he wanted an army of people to do everything he asked, and he-” Finally the tears choked him and he had to stop.

“Nico, I don’t understand. None of this makes sense.” 

It wasn’t Clancy’s fault. It wasn't his fault that he didn’t remember. Of course it didn't make sense. But Nico still felt his frustration build up inside him until he felt like he was going to explode. 

He stood up abruptly, muttering a hurried, “I have to go”, and he made it to the parking lot before Clancy had caught up with him, hand gripping his forearm and forcing him to stop.

“Wait, you can’t just leave after saying all that! What were you talking about?”

A part of him that Nico didn’t want to admit existed wanted Clancy to remember all the pain he’d caused. So that maybe, just maybe, his newfound emotions would make him feel some kind of remorse.

But a bigger part of Nico wanted to kick himself for even thinking about putting Clancy through any kind of pain, even after all he’d suffered through at the hands of his best friend.

“You think you want to know, but you don’t. You don’t want me to tell you what’s happened. You don’t want me to tell you what you’ve done.”

With that Nico was content to walk away, his chest burning with all the emotions that were going to be left unspoken, buried in a box six feet under ground where he’d never ever have to confront them again.

Clancy wasn’t content with that. 

Nico had half a mind to tear his arm away from his friend and continue walking, but the small, “I want to know what’s happening”, made him freeze in his tracks. Nico felt his heart stutter when Clancy rested his head against his back and the grip on his forearm tightened.

“Please, tell me what’s going on.”

Ruby really had changed him. Where was the manipulative, power-hungry boy that wanted to take over the United States of America single-handedly. 

_ Gone.  _ That boy was gone. But still, Nico couldn’t forget. And no matter how many times he tried to persuade himself that he’d forgiven his friend, in the end he couldn’t. Not when there had been no remorse or resolve. No sadness. No guilt. No apology.

“I can’t remember what I did. So far as I know I’ve been living with my mother all these years, hiding. But I’ve heard people talking about the Oranges… the kids who can control other people and change memories…”

When Clancy spoke like that Nico felt all his anger dissipate into thin air. He couldn’t forgive but he found he also couldn’t hold onto his anger. It all slipped away in tears down  his cheeks. But the sadness stayed. Of course, why would he get so lucky as to escape all his problems.

“I’ve hurt you. I gathered that much.” Clancy’s voice was muffled by Nico’s jacket but neither moved. 

“If my memories aren’t real- well, the thought scares the hell out of me,” Nico could tell it really did scare him. He was shaking. “But to be perfectly honest I knew something was wrong. Everyone walks on eggshells around me. Sometimes I’ll startle mother when I walk into a room, but instead of looking surprised, she looks truly  _ afraid _ .”

Nico was forgetting how to breathe. How could be have not realized this would happen. Clancy had forgotten. That didn't mean everyone else did. The pain and tragedy was still deeply etched into everyone else, leaving nightmares that would wake them up for years to come. Jesus, his mother was still afraid of him, which wasn’t at all questionable after what she’d been through.

But god help him, Clancy was shaking now and Nico was fairly certain that Clancy was  _ crying _ . The only time he’d ever seen Clancy cry was when-NO-he refused to let his mind go back to a time of camps and endless experiments.

“Nico, what did I do?”

Something inside of Nico snapped, and he looked up at the sky, trying to stop the tears that were already pouring down. 

“You’re the Skip Kid,” Once those words slipped out, it was too late to stop. “You started a safe haven for kids on the run from the camps only to rat them all out to the camps when things started to look bad for you. You promised to help people just so you could use them. You manipulated other kids into thinking you were their savor. You-”

Nico’s voice faltered at the next thought that crossed his mind. With the image of a broken compass. And fire.

“You’re the reason two of my friends are dead.”

At that point Nico felt as though Clancy were using him for support, like his legs had given out. And even after all that, he still wasn’t satisfied.

“You still haven’t told me what I did to you.” Unbelievably, his voice had gotten even quieter than before, but his voice was raspier now, filled with pain. Both boys knew that Nico’s next words would change everything but neither knew which path the change would lead to.

“You betrayed me.” Clancy stopped breathing. “You used me as your puppet. Made me betray all the people I called family. And in the end you told me I meant nothing to you. That I was just a pawn in your plan to overthrow your father.”

Before he’d even finished, Clancy had started speaking again. But it was not so much speaking as ranting. A series of  _ I’m sorry _ ’s that just came faster and faster until it sounded as though Clancy would begin to hyperventilate.

Nico had to draw the line when Clancy started sobbing. He spun around wrapped his arms around the other boy, holding him close, his heart beating in his ears. Clancy clung to him, broken apologies falling off his lips in between sobs and gasps for air.

Nico would have done anything to stop those sobs. To stop the gut wrenching noises that accompanied the flow of tears. All the anguish that Nico wanted Clancy to feel remorse for… he was finally feeling it all. And he didn’t even remember. It didn’t seem fair. This Clancy, who cared so much, didn’t deserve to suffer from the old Clancy’s actions.

Nico didn’t attempt to calm Clancy down. Doing so would have meant releasing his own sobs that were threatening to break free, and that wasn’t something he was prepared to face at the moment.

“N-nico,” his voice broke, “I’m so sorry.”

“I know.” Nico felt as if his response was cruel but he couldn’t bring himself to say something along the lines of  _ I forgive you  _ or  _ It’s okay _ . He couldn’t bring himself to forgive and forget, but he continued speaking anyway.

“I know you’re sorry. But I can’t say it’s okay. It isn’t. But so long as we keep moving forward, we can get past it.” 

Clancy nodded, unable to speak any longer.

Nico wonders who thought getting things off your chest makes you feel lighter.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone likes this I might turn it into something longer later. But for right now this is all I have.  
> What can I say, it's like I can only come up with angst...


End file.
